Monday, December 1, 2014

It's crazy how that happens. This week was the perfect week to throw us in to the Christmas season! We got to go into Copenhagen for a meeting, so we took our preparation day time in Copenhagen and went to Tivoli! Its was incredible.

It is kind of like the equivalent of the Temple Square lights, but in Copenhagen. And times two. There were so many lights. It was a blast. They had all these light shows, decorations, I don't even know how to describe it. Just a Christmas wonderland. We didn't pay for rides or anything, just walked around and enjoyed Christmas.

At the meeting we talked about the Church's 'He is the Gift' Christmas initiative. Its going to be pretty sweet! Hopefully you have all seen the video online. If not, check it out! We also planned for our Christmas zone conference. One of the things that makes the Christmas zone conference so great is that after lunch we watch a movie. Usually it's just one of the church movies, like 17 miracles or Ephraim's Rescue... But not this year :) We got Frozen approved for us to watch!! I am beyond stoked, cuz I heard it was super good and it came out after I left! We were all way excited. The best part though, is that we aren't telling anyone. We are pranking the whole mission haha :) We told them all that we are going to watch 17 Miracles again, and they all bought it. But they are going to be pretty surprised when Frozen pops up on the screen! It'll be fun :)

That trip to Copenhagen was definitely the highlight of the week. Christmas is in full swing here. We got to go watch Santa light the big Christmas tree here in the city center. Counted down in Danish and all. The tree is about 30 meters tall... It was sweet to see. They definitely don't hold back on Christmas here! I love it. Its a great time to be in Denmark.

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving! And hope that you have another good week this week. I love you and miss you!

-Conner

P.S. If you have any extra Christmas cards... Send me 'em :) I love them!

Monday, November 24, 2014

Sorry for missing an E-mail last week. It was a crazy day haha. Our Preparation day kinda got eaten up by transfers. A lot of missionaries come through Århus for transfers and we ended up getting stuck in the station being companions for people that missed trains or helping people get their baggage to other trains and yeah... it was madness.

Missionaries and baggage all over the platform haha. People waiting to get on the train were laughing pretty hard when 10 missionaries, 10 bikes, a couple guitars and 30 bags came flying out of this train. But the craziest part was after we had left the station. We thought all was done when we got a call from some missionaries telling us that they had forgotten to put their bike on a train and asking us to run back and get it. So we BOOKED IT back before someone could steal it (bikes are stolen like candy... and it wasn't locked), and found it safe and sound. We locked it and then just sent it on the next train headed to their city haha :) The bike made it safe and sound! So that was transfers.

This week was awesome! Time is going to fast though, and this companionship is quickly rising on the list of my favorite companionships. Æ. Swan was in my MTC group so we already knew each other, and he is just like my friends from back home, so it has been fun. And just having fun is leading to a lot of great things! When we have fun with what we are doing, it doesn't seem like work anymore. It has helped the work go well, especially with one of our investigators, Frank. We found out he likes ping pong :) So...

​Ping Pong + Lessons! We always play a couple games of (very intense) Ping Pong before we meet with him. He is pretty good. It is going really well with him though. We bring members to play too so he is getting close with them and he has been to church the last couple of weeks.

We also have an investigator who is a the leader of a non-denominational gospel choir, and he invited us to go so... now we are in a gospel choir! Swaying and all :) We sing with them for about 30 minutes and then they have a little break for water and some treats and we get to socialize with all of them. They love us haha :) Ask us tons of questions about being missionaries and about the church, and it has become an amazing opportunity to find people to go and teach! It has led to some pretty positive people. Thursday nights are now one of my favorite nights haha :) Man do those songs get stuck in your head though...

Oh, Another exciting thing! We got in a little mini bus crash! Ha Our bus turned a little to sharp and the back of the bus swung out and totally demolished 2 cars parked on the side of the road. Woops. Bus was fine though.

All is going well :) I am having a really good time and am excited for Christmas to get going. The lights in the city come on this week!!! Goodness I love Christmas. Hope you all had a good week. Congrats to my dad for being on TV!! If you didn't hear about it, ask him to send you the clip because it's pretty great.

Have a good thanksgiving! Watch out for trees on the snowmobile trip (or four-wheeler trip) I'll be missing you all and thinking of you! But hey, make it a great week :)

Monday, November 3, 2014

We didn't get to spend a lot of time in our area this week. We were in Copenhagen for a couple of meetings and spent some time on splits and planning for our big zone training this week. It should be pretty fun! We are combining with another zone for a early-thanksgiving zone training. Got a big feast planned, a talent show (ha and man, our apartment has big plans for our talent), and a turkey bowl :) America!

We did get to celebrate Halloween though! It's not really that big of a thing over here, but it's picking up, and we were trying to add to that. We threw a Halloween party with all the young single adults in the ward and it went great!

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Made a haunted house, ate donuts hanging from string​, turned people into mummies with toilet paper, carved pumpkins, and played a couple other games. And 5 investigators showed up! So it was a successful night.

Yeah, that was pretty much the week! We might have transfer calls by next time I email. Hopefully nothing changes because we are all having a really good time! Hope it's going well with you all at home. Love you and miss you!

Monday, October 27, 2014

I learned Pidgeon English this week. From our investigator from Ghana. His name is Fred. Haha Elder Swan and I have been practicing and he teaches us a little more each time we go over. He taught us how to hold a basic little conversation, but hopefully we will be able to get it to a point where we could talk to him in it! We'll see. He loves teaching us Pidgeon and has a ton of fun. And we love teaching the gospel, and have a ton of fun! He's probably one of the funnest people that I have met with here. He's super happy and all the meetings are upbeat and fun, but at the same time really focussed on the gospel. A great combo.

I don't have a ton to write about this week... It was a great week, had lots of fun, but just kinda the norm of running around and trying to get a hold of people. We did contact of a good number of them, so that was good.

Oh, We did go on an adventure!

​A journey through the jungle... Not really. We just went to a botanical garden place with a jungle inside on preparation day haha :)

Hope all is going well with everyone! Have a great week! Don't miss em at the pheasant hunt. Wish I could be there with you all! Send pics :) I love you and miss you!

Monday, October 20, 2014

So I start all of my journal entries off with a quote of the day. It has been really fun and helps me remember all the funny moments that happen throughout the different days. I thought I would start this email off with one from this week. Thursday's was: 'Oh good, I thought you were a little girl!'. It was said by some random guy to Elder Brady (who is this huge football player guy). Elder Brady tried some licorice ice cream out on the gågade (super public place) and didn't like it, so he made a horrible face. This guy saw that face and went up to him and asked 'What? You don't like it?' Elder Brady tried to be nice and covered his face and said he did like it. Then the guy said that, "Oh good, I thought you were a little girl!" right to his face! haha. We all just about died of laughter. I thought it would be a good story to include because that was the story of the week. We laughed a ton.

We also made a ton of people smile with this:)

​We had baught pumpkins to carve and were walking back to the apartment, and you should have seen all the looks we were getting haha. :) I'm sure we made like 30 people's days, we got so many smiles. It was pretty funny.

Ældste Swan and I taught Primary yesterday :) Man, I love primary kids. It was so funny. It was hard to teach because every answer that we would get would just make us die of laughter. Like we asked this one girl: 'Why do you love your family?' and she said, 'Well, because if I don't then they will get offended!' I dont know if we can request callings (Bishop Prater...) but I'm sold. It was a blast.

It was a fun week. Went by crazy fast. I think that is just going to be the story of the rest of my mission but I'm not complaing about it! It's just a great time. Hope it is going well for all of you back home too! I love you and miss you!

Monday, October 13, 2014

So to explain the football....in Denmark people think it's too personal when someone walks up and starts throwing religion at them. So Conner and his old companion noticed that if they just go out and start throwing a football people approach them to start a conversation. Pretty smart I must say! I'm sure they have many ways to turn a football conversation into a missionary discussion. Haha. Love this kiddo and am so excited he was able to make it back for his baptism! Originally Conner scheduled the baptism for September 27th and so he came home knowing he would miss it. But Sander had to postpone it, and gratefully Conner was back in time and President Sederholm allowed him to go to the baptism. Tender mercies galore! Thanks again to all of you for being part of this miracle! Crysi

​(If you remember that one time where an investigator walked into the church while we were emailing, this was him!) I got to go back for it too! It was awesome :) He was super excited. It was a great little baptismal meeting. His whole family came as well, and were really supportive of him. I'm super jealous of the Elders in Slagelse right now because his whole family is probably going to start coming to church as well. I got to ride over to Slagelse with Elder Earl as well, so that was really fun to catch up and talk with him as we rode the train over to Slagelse. That ward is great, It was a blast being back, even if it was just for a little bit. So that was the highlight of the week for sure!

Århus is great! I like it a lot. Being in a four man apartment is also a blast. I'm still getting to know the area, but it is coming. We ride lots of busses and walk a lot here. Our area is pretty big, has a lot of people in it for just 2 missionaries. And we have the University :) So we meet with some younger people and most of the people that we talk to on the street are younger as well. haha We were out throwing the football the other day and this kid came up and asked in perfect danish if he could throw it. We gave him the ball, and then watched with open mouths as he threw a perfect spiral like 40 yards down to me. Danes can't do that! Usually it looks like a duck and goes about 20 feet. Turns out he wasn't really a Dane haha :) His dad was American so he had grown up there. We talked to him for a while though and set up a football game against him and his friends. It will be a fun game haha :) So Århus is going pretty well.

Hope everyone had a good week! If you didn't get the chance to see my sister's homecoming pictures, you should ask my mom to send you them. She looked great! (haha sorry to embarrass you Sarah :) But you did!) I love you and miss you all! Ha' det godt!

Friday, September 26, 2014

Sorry it's been a while. Haha my mission has gone for a little twist lately, being back in Utah, but at least I was able to get my shot back in basketball :) I guess my mom updated you all on most of the stuff that had happened, but I haven't sent anything for a while.

I just wanted to tell you that you are all the best! I hope you all know how much I have appreciated and felt your prayers! It has been amazing to see how many people have been there for me. And your prayers worked! I'm going back to Denmark! On Monday! I got cleared! I can't tell you how grateful I am for all of your prayers and fasting and I know it's cuz of them that I'm going back. I'm beyond excited and so happy that things worked out the way that they did. Next time I write it will be from Denmark again :)

Thank you all again! I hope everything is going great for you, because you deserve it. Have a great day! Love you!

I thought I would fill you in on the last 2 weeks of Conner's very odd mission. I know you haven't received any updates for a couple weeks and I will try to write one like Conner. Denmark has changed for Aeldste Ludlow - it looks a lot like Utah.

So coming home - we had a very private gathering at the airport for Aeldste Ludlow's arrival. Just the 5 of us. The time came and went that his plane had arrived and the people sitting behind him were there waiting to see him come too. At that point, we were stumped where he could have gone. One time we threw him a surprise party and he surprised us by sneaking up on us....so we had that in mind and started checking other doors. Well, the trick was on him because he couldn't find us! Hahaha. So I spotted him across the airport, dropped the banner, and took off running and scared him! That's the dramatic entrance (part 1) of him coming home. It's on video if you want to be embarrassed for me.

After arriving home on the 10th, Conner went to work assigned to the missionaries in our stake. He goes out with them every morning for companion study and then hits the pavement squishing around in his waterlogged body (his cheeks are SUUUPPPEEERRR cute right now) and lives the missionary life until 9 pm when he returns home to us. We only see him then and when he has an appointment during the day. I have seen him faithfully live the missionary life and it has not been easy. It is hard being dumped into a different mission with different culture and the work is just....unique....in Sandy, Utah. Aeldste Ludlow has blown me away with his sweet humility and patience as he Just. Keeps. Going. I am so grateful for his example and strength.

So after losing count of how many appointments he has been to, almost daily to be honest, his arms look like pin cushions or a serious drug user. He has had CT scans, other unmentionables, ultrasounds and even a liver biopsy where in recovery he decided to scare the life out of his mother and take his heart rate and breathing down to 0 (yup - that's a ZERO) for about a little bit just to have fun. Then he was bummed after because he didn't get a print out of the the 0 reading to show his companions. Seriously - he did do that. But it was a reaction to the medication they gave him. He came out of it on his own, though the blue code team was there with paddles ready and I was standing in a puddle....but that's another story. After all has been said and done, Conner has been diagnosed with mild non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and most likely has had a lot of these symptoms because of a virus parked in his liver. The virus is not diagnosable right now because it is slow moving and the antibodies aren't there to test at this point. The treatment - time. So his liver enzymes are back to normal range as well as his hemoglobin. But his LDH is still pretty high and he is still....swollen. This will hopefully work itself out in time we are being told. So he will have to squish around for quite some time more, though he is taking his diet and exercise very seriously. He is excited for the day his body decides to let go of all the water. Though as of this morning he is down a couple pounds!

Long story short, his 3 doctors have cleared him to return to his mission with no restrictions. We have forwarded these recommendations to the proper grand pumba's (no disrespect - I've had to rely on a sense of humor through all this) and hope to hear soon what the decision of the Mission Medical Dept. is.

We can't help but shake our heads in awe at the miracles that have unfolded before our eyes, from what seemed very serious seeming to "simmer down" to a virus; to getting in to all the specialists we did without having to wait weeks or months; to people helping carry the rest of the load; to not completely losing it when times were hard, we have been blessed by your prayers, fasting and faith. We have no doubt the Lord's hands have led us and carried us. And we thank all of you for your love and concern.

We will hopefully be emailing soon with news from the Mission Dept!

Love you all!

Crysi

The beginning of the trail of people after the crash....That room got REALLY full...taking pictures is all I could do that point!

Monday, September 1, 2014

So this might not be quite as happy of an email as some of my other ones have been... I kinda have some bummer of news. I'm not sure if this has all gotten around yet, but I thought you should all hear it from me. I've been kinda sick lately as you might have heard. The doctors here haven't really been able to figure out what is wrong. So I'm going to have to come home for a bit to get some tests done. It's a bummer. Hopefully I should be able to go right back out as soon as they figure out what is wrong! Thanks for all the prayers and fasting. I have really felt them and have felt super loved :) I am a way lucky kid to have people like you around me! I hope you know how much I appreciate it all. But we will get this figured out quick and then I'll be able to get back out and get going again :)

But to lighten things up, Here is a picture of me, my chipmunk face, and a 2500 year old mini stone henge looking thing :)

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks again for all the prayers! I love you all!

Monday, August 25, 2014

Slagelse is so great. It's the first place where I'm really getting to know people and become friends. I didn't know enough Danish to really get to that level in Silkeborg, even though I still was close to the people, and in Taastrup I just wasn't there for very long. But here I am getting to know people and becoming tight friends with all of them and it is a blast. And all the people here are so fun! Our Bishop's son is going on a mission next month, and we go out to teach with him a ton, like almost whole days sometimes, and so that's awesome. The work is going really well here and it's all coming together to make things crazy fun :)

I got to go back to Taastrup again this week!! I was with Æ. Christensen from my MTC group. We went and visited all of the people that I taught there and it was so great. Went to the taastrup buffet again too. Met with the Hansens! They are still doing so good. They are pretty much members. Its kinda funny. They are all the way there. Minus the smoking. They don't want to give it up. They want to do it someday, and they want to be baptized, but they are just kinda procrastinating with the smoking. So they just need to take that step... They'll get there soon. We also met with my old investigator David. (IDK if i ever talked about him much...) And we set a baptismal date with him! For the 1st of November! So that was super fun that I was able to be there when he set a date. 'Twas a fun day. Taastup :)

We had a great day on Saturday! I'd like to think .......Whoa, live update! Happening right now! Crazy story. One of our investigators just showed up at the church-right now! Sander. He's 19 and we just barely met him on Thursday. He's so excited and loves all the stuff we told him about. He thought church was today and he had run here to make it on time - he thought. I feel bad haha! But we still made it worth the trip. We talked with him for a bit and gave him a tour of the church. And showed him the baptismal font... He told us he wants to be baptized!!! So we set a date with him right there!!! How sick is that?? This kid is amazing. He wants to turn his life around and is sincere and ah, best preparation day ever. So yeah. There is your live update haha.

But, to continue - haha I'd like to think our good day on Saturday was because of Mom's birthday :) We did some service and then we met with Sander, (the guy who just showed up at the church haha). We had knocked into him real quick on Thursday, it was the only door we knocked, and he said we could come back. So we did! And it went amazing. As I said, he is so sincere and wants to find a new life. He had been in a pretty scary place in his life, but he's trying hard to turn around, and he told us that the church sounds like just what he needs! So we watched the new Mormon Message with him (called The Hope of God's Light. http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3701964025001. If you haven't watched it you need to because its amazing!) It was pretty much a mirror of the situation he was in. The spirit was so strong the whole time and it was just an awesome experience. And he just showed up at church! So he felt the Spirit too. It was a way neat experience and we are excited for him. So then we had cereal Saturday :)

At the Kosterkirke is sorø. Good times :) We met with another investigator and some less actives too so it was just a great day! Which I was glad for. If I wasn't going to be spending my Mom's birthday with my Mom, it had better be a great day! Happy Birthday Mom :)

So yeah, It was a great week. I know I say that every week, but it really was. I cannot complain at all. I'm one blessed kid. I hope that you are all doing well! I hope you know that you are all in my prayers and that I think of you all the time! I love you and miss you!

Monday, August 18, 2014

It's getting cold :( And its only half way through August. I'm getting a little worried... Danes are already breaking out their coats... Hopefully it just blows over! I have lucked out with weather since being here though. It has been a nice summer and last winter was pretty mild. So I can't complain! But man, getting cold in August... that's not a good sign.

It was a good week! We met with Søren again :) I love meeting with him. He is so great. And he read again! He explained the whole chapter of Alma 32 for us and said he really liked it. And we had a great lesson with him, all about faith. He told us that one day he wants to surprise us and teach us about a chapter in the Book of Mormon :) We told him that we would be excited if he did! So things are going really well with him. And we got some sweet pictures on the drive back from his house :) (he lives in the middle of nowhere).

​So that was a fun day :)

We had a mission conference this week!! It was so great! President Taxiera came to talk to the mission and it was awesome! He came to talk to us about how to use technology in missionary work... hopefully that is a good sign that we are going to be getting iPads :) But it was a way fun conference. It was crazy having the whole mission there. Got to see everyone! Literally!! It was way fun to catch up with all my old companions and friends from the mission and yeah, it was a great day.

We ordered a pizza!! It was the first time I had done that in a while. So I thought it would be worthy for the weekly email :) We didn't get a chance to eat dinner one night so after planning we ordered a pizza. And we thought we would add some danish culture into it so we lit some hygge candles as well. It was a fun night. haha

​(And yes, that is lettuce on a pizza. Pizza here is weird haha. It's totally different from American pizza. Not even in the same category. But super good!

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But yeah, It was a great week. I'm having so much fun in Slagelse. Transfers are coming up on Monday, and we won't be getting calls until later in the week. I don't think I will be transferred though. But hopefully nothing changes here in Slagelse! It is all too awesome. I could stay here for a while.

Have a great week everyone! Have a good start to the new school year! Crazy. And don't forget to tell my Mom Happy Birthday on Saturday :) She deserves it! She is pretty darn great :) I love you all and miss you all!

Monday, August 11, 2014

I'm sorry. I have been horrible about writing lately... Emailing has just been super crazy so I haven't been able to get a good email out. But I'll try this week!!

It was a dope week. This transfer has just been way too much fun. Me and Elder Earl are having a really good time in Slagelse. We have some way fun companionship traditions. Like Cereal Saturdays :) Every Saturday so far this transfer we have been going up to this city called Kalundborg, and its to far away to drive back for dinner, so we started eating dinner up there. Which can get pricey. So a couple Saturdays back we decided to bring some bowls and just buy some cereal and milk for dinner. Cheap and easy. And then we drove to the beach and at it on the beach.

And after the first time doing it we decided it needed to become a tradition. So, cereal Saturdays were established :)

Like I said, It was a way fun week. It was an Alta week! I went on splits with Æ. Cameron Walch and Æ. Andy Gifford, who both went to Alta! It was way fun. So we were down in Nykøbing Falster and in Copenhagen for a couple days this week. And in Roskilde for zone training. So we were kinda all over the place, only in our area for about half the week. But we made the best of it. the work is going way well in our area. We have been super busy and it is keeping up pretty well! We met with Søren, the guy we met in Sorø who had the Firebird, and we brought Finn Kristiansen with (the dad of the Kristiansens, who I talk about way too much. they are like our family here in Slagelse) and get this: they had met each other before! They had both been tow truck drivers and had met through work. So that was sweet! It was a fun lesson and went really well so we were stoked about that. Speaking of the Kristiansens, we went over there last night for dinner and all the youth from the ward were over too and they were out racing their cars in the field next to the Kristiansens house (they are so fun haha). But one of the cars shot out some sparks and aought the field on fire! So we had to grab buckets of water and try and put it out. luckily the farmer was outside with his tractor and saw it and was just able to come by and plow it over and it put it out quick. But it was pretty exciting for a second.

All is going well here! Having way too much fun. It's crazy to think that it is already August... Hope everyone is having a great end to their summers and making the time count! Thanks again for all the prayers :) You are all the best! I am feeling good and am having a great time, and can really feel all the love and support from back home so thank you so much! I love you all and miss you all!

Monday, July 28, 2014

Sorry, I kinda ran out of time for a big email this week. It was a way good week though! A ton happened and it was a blast! Time is going so fast right now. We are getting way busy, like literally every second of our next week with the exception of like 2 hours on Wednesday and Friday is planned. The work is clicking with me and Elder Earl and we have our sights set pretty high!

But I thought I would at least send some pictures from the week :)

Rootbeer floats to celebrate a new investigator. with these sweet light up cups that we got from a new convert :)

Building a wall at service with a crazy less active. She told us to make the wall artsy, make it a peice of art (like I said, she is a little crazy, we just do what she says, even if it makes no sense. She has a vision of what she wants with her yard!) So this is what we came up with...

Our entertainment at the hospital as we waited... and waited... and waited...

Oh, and see that old lady in the background? We became good friends with her on the next hospital visit :) She sat by us at one of the tables. Right when things were going well and we thought we were friends she said, "You know, don't you think that you should be sitting somewhere else? People who are sick might want those seats that you have. Then she totally told us off. We were sad. So we moved. And then she took our seats!!! We were kinda sad about that cuz we thought we were friends. Oh well. It was funny.

So yeah :) It was a good week! And I can't complain. All is well! Thanks for all the prayers and support! I really appreciate it :) You are all the best! I love you and miss you!

Monday, July 21, 2014

We got to wear these sweet painting suits so we didn't get paint on our clothes at service on Wednesday. It is going to be a fun companionship. We have a ton in common... Like guess where his mom comes from, Canada! And guess where his dad comes from! Reno, NV! crazy right? We thought that one was nuts. He is from South Jordan and also went to BYU for a little bit before his mission. We work pretty much the same and have our sights set high and it is going to be a way fun transfer!

We had a good week! For some reason I am hitting a big mental block though and can't think of a thing we did... I know that it was a good week though! We introduced Elder Earl to members and investigators and had some good lessons and some good times and all went well. Haha We went to a Danish Church baptismal party! for one of our investigators daughters. It turned out way good! our investigator, martin, had some family members that had run into the church before and they were all going to be at that party, so when we got the invite we took him up on it! And it turned out way good! We ended up having some good conversations with people about the church and have a couple potential people that we can visit now from it! And on top of that it helped out a ton with our relationship with Martin and his wife, who we hadn't met too much, and they invited us over again tomorrow! So that was way fun. and now I can say I went to another church's baptismal party :)

All is going well. I am really looking forward to this transfer. It is going to be a good one. Thanks for all the prayers and everything! You are all the best :) Love you and miss you! have a great week!

Monday, July 14, 2014

How is it going with everyone? Guess what! I got a new companion! His name is Æ. Earl! I don't know too much about him yet, so I'll have to get back to you with all that, but so far he is looking fun! We had a bit of a crazy transfer this morning but all is well and we are back in Slagelse :) It should be a great transfer.

So I noticed on the email that my mom sent out last week to everyone that one of the lines said 'F spending it in Denmark'... haha- that sounds way bad. it was supposed to say Fun. Not F. And it said fun when I sent the email home but I think my [beautiful, bright and super amazing] Mom goes through and edits all my emails (I must have bad grammar and stuff haha :))(and she is an English major, so its probably a good thing) and the un in fun must have got deleted. So that's why it said that. I promise I didn't say f spending it in denmark.

So... Ice cream in Denmark deserves a little shout out. You get it from these little candy shops that are everywhere and it is great! The soft serve is super creamy, way more yummy,cheap, has huge portions and they just make it fun! they have this stuff called guf that they put on top which is like a thicker whipped cream type stuff but its sugary and not creamy... if that makes any sense. but its way good. Here's a picture of me with my favorite combo

And haha! Sprinkles on the lip for the win. It has 2 scoops of like normal flavored ice cream (my fav is a licorice/rasberry sorbet combo) and then soft serve on top with guf and sprinkles. So good! We ate a lot of ice cream this week (maybe that explains the swelling...) with it being Æ. Hansens last week so I had to include something about ice cream in the e-mail haha.

We met with the car contact guy from last week! It went so good! He was legit. He took a Book of Mormon and was actually open to learning more about the church! He was super fun to talk to and the lesson went really well so hopefully we see that happen again and get some good things going! We had a pretty good week. Found a couple new investigators and we are excited for them. The investigator side of the work here is starting to get rolling again and the less active work is still going great so this transfer is promising. We have quite a few appointments and we'll try and use my new comp to get a couple more so it should be a busy week! I can't complain :) I really love Slagelse. I'm having a great time and am excited to be here for another transfer. And hopefully I stay another one after this transfer too :)

I hope all is going good with everyone! Thanks for all the prayers and support :) Don't listen to my mom though haha I feel good and am out working and having a blast! I just look like a balloon sometimes when I wake up :) But everything is going great and I have no complaints. Hope you all have a great week! I love you and miss you all!

Monday, July 7, 2014

Hello family and friends! So here is Conner's latest e-mail- a little late. He hasn't said anything in his e-mails but he has been pretty sick lately. He is having a problem with swelling - everywhere. So he went to a Dr. in Denmark (socialized medicine - ugh - it's slow) and his liver enzymes and hemoglobin levels are concerning. So they have sent him to a specialist. As of now, that's all we know. It has been a month now that he has been sick, but he keeps working and isn't letting it stop the work, even though he is very tired most of the time. We would appreciate any prayers in his and his Dr.'s behalves to help us figure this out soon and get him better! We will be having another family fast after we find out more info this week, I will invite you all then! Thanks for your love and concern. Love you all! Crysi

Sent: Monday, July 7, 2014 4:08:09 AMSubject: America!

America!!

America is the best. We had a super fun 4th of July. Represented the states well. Here is how we arrived to zone training:

​It was a fun day. Had zone training, and then after we had a zone lunch where everyone brought their favorite American deserts and we all just pigged out on American sweets :) And the Kristiansens had us over for a 4th of Juli party later that night and they went all out. It was so good!! BBQ hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage, chips, classic 4th of Juli BBQ. We brought the football and tossed that around with them and then roasted some marshmallows :) So it was a great day! F spending it in Denmark :) Bummer we lost in the world cup though.

I had the coolest contact of my mission this week too. It was so much fun. And it was very fitting for the week of the 4th of July! We were in a town called Sorø and all of these old, classic cars were all over town. I guess there was some sort of car show/car club get together. So as you can imagine I was in heaven :) We were walking back to our car and we walked past this beautiful blue 69 Mustang and a 69 Firebird. They were so pretty. In good shape and just looked great and there was a group of guys standing by them talking. So you know how I am with old cars, so I couldn't resist! We went over and started talking to them and the conversation took off. I asked them a ton of questions about the cars and they opened them up and let me look inside and see the engine and all the parts and all that and it was so cool. They even fired up the Firebird so I could hear her :) I was just flying by that point. In heaven. And then the conversation shifted to the church and why we were here in Denmark. We started talking with one of the guys (the one who owned the Firebird :)) about the church and what we do as missionaries and we asked if we could come to his house and meet with him and he was excited to do that! So we got his address and are going over there on Wednesday! I'm kinda excited :) oh, and I got a pic with them :) My car bros in Denmark.

​Ignore the beer. The guy we are meeting with is the one in the passenger seat. He is paralyzed but has a neat outlook on life and a sweet story! I'll make sure to keep you updated on how it goes with him :)

This will be my last week with Æ. Hansen. He is going home a week from today! Crazy. It has been a fun couple of transfers. We'll find out who I'm getting as a new companion today and then next week I'll let you know who it is! Whoever it is, He'll be fun so I'm stoked. It will be a great week! Things are going really well here :) Thanks for all the prayers and fasting everyone! I really appreciate it :) I hope that you all have a great week! I love you and miss you!

Monday, June 30, 2014

This week was great!! I think I say that about all my weeks, but its because they all are pretty darn great :)

I don't know if you all remember a while back when I sent home pictures and stories about a Danish holiday where the tradition used to be that they would put a black cat in a barrel and then beat it until the barrel broke? (Nowadays they just put candy in the barrels, don't worry) Well, this week was the second half of that holiday, where we burn a witch, the cats owner!! It's called Sankt Hans and it was on the summer solstice. The tradition is to burn a witch in order to get rid of all of the evil that comes with the solstice when demons and things can run free. So here was our witch:

​Pretty, eh? And here is the fire :) She didn't last too long...

​We had a big ward party at the Kristiansens and they definitely went all out with the witch burning. This fire got pretty darn big! It was way fun :) It's always fun to be a part of these danish traditions and holidays. I liked this one a lot :) Who couldn't like it when there is fire involved? We roasted marshmellows too :) So that was definitely a fun night.

Look who I found this week!!

​Sister Wright! In Denmark! Haha we finally met up! The Sisters here in Slagelse had a baptism this weekend and Sister Wright's companion had been one of the missionaries that taught her so they came back for the baptism, so we finally got to catch up and say HI to each other here in Denmark! Pretty funny.

The work is going great here! We have been seeing a ton of great things come from our work with less actives. A couple of the people that we have been working with are regularly coming to church now and getting callings and we are so happy for them! And we had a way great week finding people so hopefully I will have some good stories soon about some Investigators. Also, Æ. Hansen will be going home here in 2 weeks so we have been using that to get appointments with all the different people that we have worked with. So it should be a pretty fun and busy week.

Haha one more Danish tradition :) It was also graduation this week. I guess in Denmark what you do after you graduate is you go and hop in the back of a big truck like this:

and drive around town shouting and singing, blazing music, and honking horns :) It was funny to see and looked like a pretty fun tradition. I guess they drive these trucks to everyone's houses and at each house they get some treats and celebrate a little and then drive to the next house and just do it all day long! While driving to all the different houses they are in the backs of these trucks singing and dancing haha :) So these were all over town this weekend. It was pretty funny.

I hope everything is going great back home and that summer is living up to its hype! Have a great 4th of July and celebrate America proudly :) We will be doing our part here in Denmark don't worry. Got all the flags and American songs at the ready :) It is a great country, can't beat it! I love you and miss you all!! Don't miss 'em.

Monday, June 23, 2014

​They are so great. It was a way fun day. They picked us up in the morning and we drove to the temple. We got there a little earlier so we got to walk around and talk for a bit before going in. And it was great once we went in! They did baptisms and confirmations and had a really good time :) They have great testimonies and it was way fun to be in the temple with them. And they are looking forward to going back later in the year when they can get sealed :) They are going to go back to Salt Lake and be sealed in the temple there. So that was also great to see that they still have their sights set on that and are looking forward to it :) and man they are so much fun :) We went to the Taco shop after (I miss mexican food!) and then when we got back in the car they were like 'we are taking you somewhere!' haha and didn't tell us where. So we just sat there and enjoyed the ride wondering where we were going. But they took us to a way sweet place! At the airport haha! (probably to taunt Æ. Hansen a little bit :)) It was a way sweet little ice cream shop right on the runway where you could sit and eat ice cream and watch planes take off. So that was super fun. It was just a great day!

We knocked into a high guy yesterday too :) Here he is drawing a picture for Æ. Hansen

Haha when we told he we couldn't stay and talk he was like 'oh thats ok! i'll just walk with you!' and he walked us to his car. Showed us his nice big belly tattoo and his basketball skills. It was super funny. Had some good chats walking to the car and he did give us his number so we can try and get ahold of him hopefully when he is not so high ha :) But it was a little sad when we got to the car and had to explain to him that we can't give rides to people in our mission car, so he would have to walk back alone. He was a little sad about that. But that was our funny story for the week :)

Haha we have been repping these little US flags all week in honor of the U.S. in the world cup :)

​I have never been a huge soccer fan, but it is pretty fun being over here in Europe for a world cup. The U.S. gets brought up alot more lately and people talk trash on our team, which we definitely wont have, so we have been making sure that the U.S. is getting its support over here in Denmark! Hopefully it pays off :) It would be way fun to see them move on! And definitely blow all the people over here away. So go USA!!

Things are going good here! I still having a way good time. We had a good week, were able to find some people and had a guy that we had only met with very briefly at a door come to church! He is this old architect named Peter and he talks SUPER quiet. But he is way nice and we are hoping to get something going with him. Our meetings have been going really good with less actives lately and we had 3 of them come to church yesterday as well! So all around things are going really good here :) And it should be a fun week ahead of us too. Today is Sankt Hans, the witch burning holiday, so we'll be burning a witch tonight!! I'll make sure to take pics.

Well, hope you all have a great week! Keep enjoying the summer! even if it snows (for those of you in Utah) haha :) I love you and miss you all!